Episode 12 of The Intentional Edit Podcast is full of ideas that you can implement to simplify packing for your carry-on luggage. Stop over packing and learn how to keep your suitcase organized while still having everything you need. Details on the products that I use when traveling will be included in the blog post for this episode and that is available now on intentionaledit.com
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Intentional Edit participates in select affiliate advertising programs. If you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site or any related social media platforms, Intentional Edit may make a commission. All opinions are my own.
Full Episode Transcription:
(00:00):
Episode 12 of the intentional edit podcast is full of great ideas that you could implement to simplify packing for your carry on luggage. Stop over packing for your trips and learn how to keep your suitcase organized while still having everything you need details on the products that I use when traveling will be included in the blog post for this episode, episode 12 packing tips for carry on luggage and easy traveling head over to intentional edit.com and look in the blog for this episode. And you can find the products that I have mentioned here. If you’re struggling with daily tasks, clutter organization, and finding any sort of work life balance, the intentional edit podcast is for you. It’s time to stop the chaos and live with more intention. I am Lauren, and I’m here to help you declutter implement systems and maximize routines that remove the overwhelming unorganized parts of life.
(00:55):
Bringing simplicity to your home. Come on. It’s time to create a life you love with Thanksgiving. Just a few days away. We’re close to the busiest air travel days of the year. Checking bags can be stressful. And with connecting flights and worrying, if your luggage will arrive to your destination on time, sometimes it’s just not worth it. I switched to carry on luggage a few years ago, and it’s made a travel by airplane so much simpler view modifications. And the way that you pack will help you pack fewer items that never get used and make sure you still have all the essentials that you need while on your trip. If you are an over packer and always have things that return home that you did not use on your trip, this episode is for you, whether you’re going away for a long weekend or even longer, these tips will apply.
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I have gone for a little over a week with just carry on bag, make sure your luggage meets the requirements of the airline you’re flying. That is probably one of the most important things that I can tell you if it does it fit properly and follow the measurements for carry on luggage, you might end up having to check your bag. Anyway, you can easily figure this out by visiting the website of the airline that you’re flying on. And also the TSA website. They will give you all those specifications for your questions and all of the measurements to make sure you’re following the guidelines that are in place. As you know, with the current situation and everything that’s been going on in the last year and a half, the guidelines and requirements are changing frequently. So you’ve definitely want to look in both of those places before you’re traveling.
(02:36):
Now, I always take a rolling suitcase as my main carry on item that goes in the overhead bin. I also travel with a backpack or a large bag that will fit under my seat. That’s what the airline considers the personal travel item and the airlines permit you to bring that on board. What do I do to make carry on travel easier? The one big thing, and you will see this as a theme and home organizing or different topics that I discussed. But planning ahead is crucial. If you are going on a trip, you want to think about what you were doing on this trip. Think about your daily activities. What will they consist of? And there might be some must have items that you can’t do those things. If you don’t bring those items, set, all of those things in one designated area have them together.
(03:25):
And that’s where you’re going to be collecting everything that you need for your trips. Just one spot. So you have what you need right there. When you go to pat a couple of days before your trip, check the weather. There is a big difference between 55 degrees and sunny and 55 degrees and cloudy or Whitney. Of course, if you’re going to have snow rain or extreme sunshine, those are all things to take into consideration. When you are packing. If you don’t have to take a bulky winter coat and snow boots, don’t do it. Don’t waste the space. Of course, winter trips require a bigger and thicker clothes. So they take up more space. If the weather in a cold place is not going to be that cold and you could eliminate those big, bulky snow boots, then that will save you space and allow it to be possible for you to pack a carry on a thin windbreaker or rain jacket is easy to pack and it usually doesn’t wrinkle.
(04:23):
So you can slide that into your luggage easily, but larger winter gear takes up a ton of space. Take a quick glimpse at the weather and check out where you’re going and see what items are necessary to bring for this time that you’re going to be there and what items you can be without. Think about multipurpose items. What can you wear more than what? I usually make a cardigan work with a few outfits. You can wear it over a dress one day, and then a few days later, maybe you wear jeans and a tank top and the car to gain again, multipurpose items save so much space, figure out what you can use more than once a cute pair of your favorite sneakers is another great example of something that can be worn with more than one outfit. You can wear it with a casual look, but it’s also functional.
(05:12):
If you want to work out, or if you have a long day on your feet or exploring or some kind of athletic activity where you need sneakers as a requirement, I just mentioned shoes, but I want you to think about minimizing the shoes that you wear. I always try to wear my bulky issues on the plane because it saves a significant amount of space in your luggage. I try to only bring one or two other pairs of shoes, and then I rotate them on my trip. If you’re only going for a long weekend, that is totally doable pack for each day or each activity. I prefer to plan out my outfits and pack everything together. I fold everything for that specific outfit, a less. It is one of those multi-purpose pieces that I just mentioned. So if you have a multi-purpose piece, I leave that out to the side or sometimes pack it on the top, but everything else is folded together.
(06:04):
I pleased the, our largest items. So like a pair of jeans or pants or whatever the largest item is. And it’s folded nicely on the bottom of the stack. Then I add the smaller items like the shirts, undergarments socks, a common stack would include jeans, cardigan tank top under garments. And I have everything that I need for that one outfit or that day’s outfit. Once that stack is complete, I fold it nicely into a folded stack of clothes, clothing, if you will, that can go upright in my suitcase. So that it’s file folded. That means that each outfit will be placed in a row in my suitcase, a file folded upright. So I can grab the entire outfit at one time without disturbing the pile. The only time I don’t include an item with an outfit is when it will be more than once I do this with pajamas too.
(07:00):
If my pajamas are more than one piece, it’s like a top and a bottom that I fold those together. If I’m getting to a location at night and my arrival time is in the evening, the first item that I will need to change into is pajamas. Then I always try to place that on the top of my suitcase. So if I’m getting in really late or delayed, I don’t have to disturb the whole suitcase. I can just grab the pajamas and then I am ready to get ready for bed. If you needed to bring a hat or you want to bring a hat, pack it strategically, you can often stuck stuff, extra socks or smaller items like that. Windbreaker inside the hat. It hopes keep it shape. And then it also helps use up all that valuable space in the small carry on suitcase toiletries and your bathroom products are a big question when traveling a lot of times, products that we use and that are our go-to base products or hair products or whatever, it is only come in large containers.
(08:01):
And it’s hard to find small containers. There’s a couple of things that I do with any of the products that I use for the bathroom before I got TSA pre-check I would pack my bathroom supplies in two separate bags, because you have to separate your liquids and you have to have your liquids in a clear bag that you can take out and they can go through the security checkpoint by themselves. If you have TSA pre-check, you don’t have to worry about the next thing that I’m going to talk about with the liquids, because you don’t have to remove the liquids of anything that you bring with you and put them through security separately. But if you are not TSA, pre-check approved, whatever that’s called. Then one clear bag is what you need for all your liquid and gel items. Be sure to check the TSA guidelines.
(08:48):
I know I already said that, but again, go to the TSA website and check the guidelines for liquids, and you can find out exactly how many containers, what the ounces are, how big your bag is allowed to be. And you know, that you will be in compliance and that you’re purchasing the right size travel items. I buy travel size items of all the regular products that I use, if I can find them. And then I just refill those containers with the big ones. When I travel, I’ve also found these really cool silicone containers on Amazon. They come in a couple of different sizes. I’ve figured out which ones work best for the products. I use something like a face moisturizer for a weekend away. I, it only requires a tiny little amount, so I don’t want to bring that big bottle that I keep in my bathroom at home.
(09:33):
And those little tiny silicone containers with the lens are perfect. I can just put a couple squirts in there. And then I have what I need for the weekend. If you’re traveling with more than one person, one safe space saving solution is to share different things. So when I’m traveling with my daughter, we don’t each bring shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, all of that stuff. If it’s something that we can share and there’s enough in the travel size items, then you only need to bring one of those. If I take the bag with the toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, maybe she takes the curling wand in her bag. We kind of divvy up what is needed. If I have to go someplace by myself and still take all those things, I can still manage and fit it all in the carry on. I refill those travel size containers after each trip.
(10:22):
So that I’m ready to go on the next trip, whatever that is, the bag containing your liquids. I would, again, before I had the TSA project, I would have that separate bag and I would put it in the backpack. I’d place it right on the top of the, when I was in the security line. And it was my turn to quickly go through. I could easily unzip my backpack, pull out the laptop and pull out that bag with the liquids, put them in the bin and they could go through the x-ray machine. It’s just easier when you have everything in one place. So you’re not unzipping a number of zipper compartments in your bags and backpacks to find what you need to remove to go through that security checkpoint the bag I use when I’m taking a laptop, because I have to do work on my drip is different than the bag that I use.
(11:09):
I don’t need a laptop. So think about that. When you are deciding on what your personal item will be or your tray, I put all my bathroom items in another bag. No, these are all the bathroom items that are not liquid. So hairbrush toothbrush, hair ties anything that I will need that is not a liquid goes in another small bathroom zippered bag. It’s usually close to the top of my suitcase so that I can easily get it out when I get to my final destination, but it doesn’t have to be. There’s nothing in that, that isn’t, that has to be taken out to go through security. So it can really be anywhere in the bag where it fits well. If you require medications and you take medications or vitamins and supplements, supplements important to you always take a couple extra for emergencies. In case you get stuck longer on your trip.
(11:59):
There are a couple of really cool travel pill, organizers, where you can just take a few out and put them in the pill, organizers and keep them separate. And their compartments. They’re not mixed together. You can even label those with a Sharpie or print a label and stick it on the container. So, you know, what is in each compartment, then you’re not taking every single individual pill package bottle, whatever it might be. You can just have them all in one simple little case. Make sure if you have these medications that you need to take on a regular basis, make sure you put that in your personal carry on Ida. So that if for some reason there’s not enough room in the overhead bins and your luggage does have to get checked. You always have that personal item with you. And then your medication stays with you too.
(12:45):
If I’m traveling with a computer, of course, I have a couple more electronics and cords and chargers and things like that. Even if you are not traveling with a laptop, you still seem to have cords or chargers for your phone. Maybe you have a watch or some smart device that you use, maybe iPad, Kindle, whatever it is. All of those things require some kind of chargers. And I like to bring just a little zipper pouch, put those chargers in there. And then I also bring a portable power pack. It’s fully charged before I go. I put that in there. Then if I need extra electricity to charge my phone or battery to charge my phone, then I have it with that extra battery pack. All those cords don’t get intermixed because they’re just in that little zipper patch. Once the bags are packed and you’re ready to go, remember to relax and enjoy your trip.
(13:38):
If you’re traveling over the next few months, I hope you find some of these tips helpful and they eliminate the stress that comes with packing and travel. Be sure to send me a message or let me know how I can help you with your home organizing and simplification questions. I will include some of my favorite travel items on the blog post. When I write the post for this episode, this is episode 12 of the intentional edit podcast. So if you are wanting to know some of the travel items that I use, I’ll even include some of the extra stuff that I didn’t mention in here. Sometimes I travel with a steamer depending on the clothes that I have to wear, or I even have a little travel like a miniature teapot thing to boil hot water. There’s a couple of different things that I have that I will include in the blog post. You can check that out and see what those products are. Just go to intentional, edit.com and look for episode 12, happy holidays and safe travels. I will meet you back here next week for another episode of the intentional edit podcast.
(14:45):
Thank you for listening to the intentional edit podcast. If you found today’s episode valuable, tell your friends it by taking a screenshot, sharing it on social and tagging me at intentional edit. I’ll be back soon with another episode in the meantime, find me at attentional, edit.com and be sure to follow intentional edit on social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, to ensure you catch future episodes, click the subscribe or follow button. Now I am grateful for a five-star rating and review from you. Be sure to let me know what you liked about this episode and what you want me to cover in the future.
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Lauren is the founder of Intentional Edit, a home organization and lifestyle company focused on consciously editing to create efficient and organized spaces. Lauren believes that a functional home that looks and feels good has a positive influence on all aspects of life. Creating systems that allow for the home to function more efficiently, therefore, eliminating most of the clutter and chaos is her priority. While trends come and go organization is always in style!
Intentional Edit participates in select affiliate advertising programs. If you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site or any related social media platforms, Intentional Edit may make a commission. All opinions are my own.
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